I think 'don't drink' has to be backed up by other support measures. I can make the choice to 'not drink' while I reach out for support. When people say that, I think they are asuming it's meant to be part of wider overall recovery strategy, not the only strategy. I think if I ONLY had 'don't drink' as a recovery strategy, I wouldn't make it. I think it has to be taken in the context of a wider recovery message.

I go to therapy, I'm taking medication to treat alcoholism (naltrexone and campral), I have a sponsor and I go to meetings. In that context 'don't drink even if your ass falls off' is good advice. If I was just sitting at home struggling with the obsession and compulsion with no other support system, I would kill myself because I couldn't deal with what happens inside my head and the desperation of the need to drink.

The mental, emotional and physical discomfort of withdrawing from alcohol abuse is almost intolerable. Most people need more than 'don't drink'. That's just the first step (not in the AA sense) towards getting the help I think all alcoholics need to stay stopped.

Maybe 'don't drink and get professional help' is a good strategy.

Giving praise to the Lord everyday.

When I quit drinking, I did it cold turkey, no meetings, no books. I prayed for strength and guidance, but I knew my choices had brought on the problem, and only my choices would correct it.

I gritted my teeth and said over and over in my head, "I choose to not drink." "I will not drink." I surrounded myself with pictures of my kids to remind me why I was changing my life. I changed all of the desktop wallpaper on the computers I use to pictures of my kids. I put kid pics on my keychain. I glued kid pics on a Mardi Gras coin and kept it in my change pocket. I put kid pics in my wallet with the folding money. One wonderful afternoon a picture taped to my dashboard kept me from going into the liquor store after I drove there and parked. It was 3 weeks after I quit and it's the closest I've come to a relapse. With time, sobriety has become a routine part of my life. I don't need the constant reminders any more.

I still keep the picture coin in my change pocket and pictures in my wallet to remind me.

Some interesting posts here. I would think that not having a prevention strategy other than not drinking is something that might come for a person after a significant amount of sobriety. But for those new to sobriety or with only short periods of sobriety in the past, there are indeed other issues to be dealt with. There are most certainly situations that are triggers and harder to deal with...there are most certainly real life events, feelings, emotions, a whole host of stuff...that previously was dealt with, with alcohol, that learning to deal without alcohol, and finding strategies until one can get clean long enough to have coping mechanisms and new habits...is something that seems common sense to me.

For me I have spent a lot of time physically being effected by alcohol and mentally being effected, thinking about it, planning stuff around it. So I definitely need to fill that time and thought up with new better habits and ways of being.

I am happy for those who have made it far enough to no longer need prevention strategies. Congrats.

Right now for me, I've been following AVRT: Telling the drink to F*** Off! And saying out loud that "I will never drink again and I will never change my mind about that!"

I picked an oldtimer with decades of quality sobriety and I do what he did so I would have decades of quality sobriety. I stick with the winners. I pro-actively do what is necessary so I don't relapse.

Carol said it well. God, AA and Bob.

All the best to everyone.

Bob R

The one requirement of a relapse is the consumption of alcohol.

As luck would have it, I never drink alcohol.

Ergo - I never relapse.

Well i was just expressing my own experience with those other "successful" ways to recover that almost killed me.Since my experience is that every other thing i tried failed to bring about the spiritual awakening that i needed to stay here i wont endorse them.AA has a way out ,The first step opened my eyes to my truth the next 11 steps change that truth.And relapse is not a requirement for membership here.The greatest promise the book give me is that no further authentication will be necessary or in other words i never have to drink again.Not by my power but through the Power that the steps allows me access too.God Bless

Triggers? This always interests me. There are situations in my life that most certainly arouse anger, sadness, anxiety, happiness, joy, peace. Problems come up that need to be resolved. There are good times that call for celebration. There are peaceful, quiet times. There are loud, stormy times. I have had times of deep despair and surely will again. Calling these things triggers to drink or use is my addictive voice's idea, so I don't use that verbiage.

The term 'triggers' is a relatively new one.............we used to call them what they truly are.........: excuses!

(o:

I love (and try to practice) the concept of emulating those who have what I want.

If you want 'x', do what people who have 'x' do.

It's a concept that was totally lost on my young, drunk self.

I had a planned relapse. It was not a pleasant point in my recovery but it taught me plenty.

Before the planned relapse, my way to deal with cravings was to put them off. I would say to myself "I want to drink/drug now! But if I wait until next week/month/holiday (whatever time I thought was realistic but safe), I'll let myself have that drink/drug." Knowing full well that by the time next month rolled around, my impulse would be gone. I spent 2 years dong this and it worked for me.

Then I planned a relapse. The reasons/excuses for doing so were many but ultimately I had been planning the relapse from the start by letting my inner addict have hope that I would drink/drug again.

The experience changed the way I see my addiction.

Now I know that I will never drink/drug. There is no fooling my urges or impulses. Now I honestly say to myself "No." And that's all there is to it.

Exactly!

You rock Soberlicios! So smart, so insightful...love reading your posts.

My strategy is like many others. I reflect on what alcohol reduced me to back 8 months ago. I was living on my own for the first time in my life and it got me good, thinking I had what it took to not drink. Problem was once I was "free" from my parents I chose to drink once again and then it got worse and worse and I was only living on my own for 5 months! I didn't even last half a year on my own.

So I reflect on that. I do all the remember when's every day I am awake. No I don't drown out the world but I do take some time every day to reflect and to remind myself what I did. To compare to my drunk self and sober self is a way I also look at it.

Drunk Self... Selfish, unreliable, scary and unpredictable room mate, doesn't care about his health (Diabetes) doesn't show up to work because too drunk, gets into fights, binges max of 4 days everytime, doesn't have time to worry about dating the only dates were with alcohol and myself.

Sober Self... Caring for how others feel, spiritual, nice room mate. cares about his health (diabetes) shows up for work and proves he likes his job, doesnt need to worry about how much he has to be able to drink, has an awesome girlfriend who'll never see him in a drunken stupid manner.

The power to focus on one day at a time has helped me for the past 8 months. It never ceases to amaze me how much it has really worked! I use to roll my eyes when I heard some man say "Oh i focus on one day at a time, for 1 24 hour I do not pick up a drink, what happens tomorrow? Who knows. I only focus on today." Now I take what that man had to say seriously and applied it to my daily life.

Today I am going to a pool hall for the first time in many years. I was the "regular" at this pool hall that use to be a 20 minute walk from my house but it shut down. This one my brother and I are going to today is in Ajax, Ontario... I'm located in Whitby Ontario Canada.

My parents are slowly beginning to trust me but my mother asked me if I'd be comfortable going to the pool hall. I told her of course I wasn't going to have the urge to drink and you know what she said. She said to me " no no thats not what I meant. I just meant are you comfortable enough to go to a place where there is alcohol?" I smiled and told her I would be fine.

Focusing on my higher power and praying and meditating helps me know there is a protective shield no matter where I go, my higher power is here now to help after all the times of turning my back on him. He knows and I know that I am serious about staying sober this time around and that's what keeps me wanting more and to keep going :) 1 day at a time I do not pick up that first drink, for 1 24 hour I stay sober and I remain faithful and spiritual.

I like to keep out of 'self', in all its forms = problem solved.

Not only does that stop any thoughts of drinking/using but it actually makes me feel really good too...who'd of thought that hey?! lol

The Beast is just a survival drive, and no matter what you say, it will never change its mandate. Cursing at the Beast is like cursing at your stomach when it feels hunger pangs. It won't change what your stomach feels, or make your stomach go away, and you are just wasting precious energy.

Once you start interacting with the Beast, even with obscenities, it can potentially draw you into a debate until you slowly relent, exhausted. If you proactively refuse to respond, though, it will quickly get the message that you don't talk with your body parts, and give up all the sooner. Remember, the "R" in AVRT stands for recognition -- not response, and not refutation.

same as the past 5 years and 3 months.. (just as i did last night) making my A.A. Meetings and talking with/other Alcoholics. very simple and (so far) effective! :herewego

12 steps worked on a day-to-day basis make relapse virtually impossible

http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/yes/t2709.gif :thanks

Every day I have to make choices. Having this realization is the height of awareness. The loss of this awareness has caused me immense suffering every time I choose to pick up that first drug/drink. Breaking through the denial that the choices are not my own is a luxury I can no longer afford. The knowledge to connect my actions to their consequences is helping me get closer and closer to better overall wellness ODAAT.

I'm not sure that your AV came up with the notion of triggers, as it was probably invented by some psychologist, but it's easy to see why the Beast absolutely loves this nefarious concept. Let's look at the definition:

Trigger (noun)

1. a piece (as a lever) connected with a catch or detent as a means of releasing it; especially : the part of the action moved by the finger to fire a gun
   
2. a similar movable part by which a mechanism is actuated <trigger of a spray gun>
   
3. something that acts like a mechanical trigger in initiating a process or reaction

So, the world is presumably chock full of triggers, and just like a bullet flying across the air when the trigger of a gun is pulled, you'll fly to the liquor store when you encounter one of these triggers. To the Beast, that's like going to Disneyland. :)